Hospital Cashless and payroll deduction IS a great idea and if your organization has not yet embraced this service, you may wish to give this solution some serious consideration. Likewise, if you are unhappy with your current solution or provider, there are options. We're happy to help answer any questions you may have.
I am going to mention some food types and I would like you to think of a restaurant that comes to mind with each.
- Steak?
- Pancakes?
- Best breakfast?
- Best doughnuts?
- Worst lunch place?
- Terrible Coffee?
Chances are you came up with an entrant for each of these categories and quite likely thought of the best, and worst, entrants. Even when I mentioned the worst places, it's quite likely your brain substituted the best place as a comparison all by itself.
As we have already addressed in previous posts, you have a captive audience. They are in essence, like family. How are you treating your family and WHAT is your cafe or dining room remembered for?
Since this is family, you're allowed some leeway in failings, but there are limits. Being known for slow service will send your family across the street when there is a perception of a line. Scoring a "bad" in any of the food categories and that mindset will likely leak over into other areas all by themselves.
Some questions you should be asking yourself on a regular basis are listed below. This is a great list to write down. Set a reminder to ask these questions in your staff meetings. Your staff will likely have quite a bit to say on these subjects and gotten an earfull on occasion.
- How is our speed of service?
- How are we ranking on the friendliness scale?
- How are we ranking on food quality and value?
- What is our BEST DISH this month?
- What is our WORST DISH this month?
There are quite a few more questions, but the first 3 in this list are pretty important. There are ways to measure each of these and the key is KISS. Don't overcomplicate metics or you will be mired in the details and NOT serving your family.
Speed of service can come straight from your POS system. Friendliness can be determined by doing a "cold-call" transaction and just be the guest in disguise or mystery shopper is another method. Food quality can be a technical measurement by tracking food cost %; too high and you jeopardize your profitability, too low and you are skimping on quality. BUT, the absolute BEST way is to blind-order some sample dishes and have the staff come eat. This includes YOU.
What is your cafe or dining room most remembered for? What is your signature dish? If you are struggling right now to think of one, that's a problem You need a few staples - those dishes when mentioned that YOUR establishment comes to mind. Even if it is great coffee and you SHOULD have great coffee at a GREAT price.
Here is an idea. This is for once a month or once a quarter. Scarcity is the key here and when you make these, start with a very limited supply. Let the demand build and the word of mouth grow to entice you to make more. But strangely, the demand will always end up being higher than the supply. Remember, these are some of those talk-a-bout treats.
AWESOME cookies - and double down on the awesome. Cookies are always a treat. BIG gooey and irresistible. But, only rarely make these and when you make these, they will get captured by the bag full and carted home because they are THAT good.
Now you can take that concept and apply it to a few other treats and you can start to introduce staples into your workflow. Your family will love you for them and become loyal, loving, patrons.
To close, always, always, always, thank your guests for coming to dine with you. That means LOOK at them, smile, and in a comfortable tone and not while doing other things, thank them for dining with you.
If you are using a cashless solution, their name should be on the screen as the transaction is finalized and you can thank them by name.
For example, hearing "Wolf, thanks for stopping by" is an amazing way to complete a transaction.
To coin a phrase: And that, people, is how it's done!
Written by Wolf Scott
Founder, Newcare International
www.newcare.international